Originally Posted by
HillRider
It wasn't the in-lb to ft-lb conversion that caused the question, it's the statement that 36 ft-lb isn't much torque. Get a torque wrench and tighten something to that value. See if you still think it isn't much.
It's a lot for a tiny fastener, it's nothing for a large one. My torque wrench goes to ~140 ft-lbf and I run into stuff for which that isn't enough sometimes, although I will openly admit that 120 ft-lbf is a lot of torque. On the other hand, I'm not built like the T-rex road cyclist either.